Highlights of 20

Half of the year has gone by.  Here are the highlights from The Life of Bryan for first half of 2009.

Jan 1 - New Years’ Eve party.  This started last year, but the party that went from Opa to my house was a good time, keeping up the NYE chez Bryan tradition.

Feb 8 & March 23 - We moved into the new, bigger theatre on Feb 8 and I spoke at Deep Water on the 23rd.  I can’t really say how the talk was, but Deep Water rocks so it’s a highlight.

April 1 – 18 - I flew across the pond for a trip to Wales, Scotland, England and Ireland.  During the trip I got to see Colleen and Hywel, The Sister & 24-7 friends, Jess & JT and Lau.  The highlight of the trip was the trip itself.  Everything was great.  In addition to the friends, I saw a World Cup qualifier football match (Germany v. Wales at Millenium Stadium, Cardiff), Cardiff Castle, and Welsh parliament.  I stayed next to the birthplace of golf, and touristed through Edinburgh Castle and The Royal Mile in Scotland.  I saw both the West and East coasts of England on the train.  In Guildford/Birmingham/London I saw a Premiership football match (Arsenal v. Wigan at JJB Stadium in Wigan, the National Gallery,  Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Sqare, The Bull Ring, The British Museum & Camden Market.

Then I went to Ireland where Lau, Kerwin and I did a big ole road trip.  We took a Kia from Cork, through Blarney (the stone kissed me, I swear!), through Killarney, through Limerick, up to Galway and then I took the bus to Dublin.  We definitely had some laughs on the trip, hanging off thousand foot cliffs, racing to the top of hills, breaking tables (Lau) all while testing our IMDB trivia skills.  Ireland was gorgeous!  And Dublin was great too.  After spending a full day in the downtown core, I stayed with a friend of a friend who lives in Bono’s neighborhood.  I didn’t meet the Hewson’s, but it was cool to see that area of town.

June 5 – 7, T.O.: Once again, the highlight was the people, but the excursion was fun too.  Friday night, chillin in Dundas Square with Christa, Sheri, Robin, Bergman & friends listening to a free Randy Bachman concert.  After that there was a little celebration with the Halifax boys in honour of Mr. Francois, including a trip to the Skydome.  And I did manage to get to The Meeting House before I left The Big Smoke.

So, the first half was a blast.  But you should see the stuff coming in the 09 part…

President Obama with Stephen Colbert

You have to like at least one of these guys.  This was a pretty funny piece on the Colbert Show.  Now see the behind the scenes.

Office Pranks

I enjoy a good prank.  Especially a prank that keeps the office environment relaxed.  Here’s a classic.

Advertising – Not Their Forte

I have finally found it!  The worst advertising campaign ever.  It is so ill-conceived, I cannot find anything good to say about it.  The campaign is for the launch of the Kia Forte, a new car on the Canadian market.

If you go to http://www.mykiaforte.com/base.html and click on “Watch the Forte TV Spots” you will see what I am talking about.

First, in all of the situations presented, the Forte owner is a baffoon.  Whether inept at bee keeping, kung-fu or social graces, the geeky looking guy in all of the commericals is definitely the loser of the spots.  But boy is he proud of his Forte.

Second, the spots have been running heavily during the basketball playoffs and during 24.  I have to take from this that the target demographic is males between 18 – 34.  Perhaps women may find something charming about nerds, but let me assure you, guys between 18 – 34 do not want to be seen as a dweeb, nor do they have much time for guys who are.  Certainly the millhouse of the situation is not the one most guys look to for car advice.

Finally, the car is shown along with the price point: $15,695, I believe.  At the same time, Mazda is promoting their new Mazda 3′s for the same price point.  Kia provides no rational or appeal for why anyone would want to choose one of their Forte’s over a Mazda 3.

From my experience, making quality cars is not Kia’s forte.  After seeing their marketing prowess, I guess that’s not it either.

Love Your Neighbour

“Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

Mark 12:28 – 31

What are your neighbours’ names?  Seriously, the folks who live in the houses/townhouses/condo’s/apartment units around you, what are their names?

One of the traps of city life, I have noticed, is that we often pass by our neighbours without even noticing.  We have a lot of good reasons.  ‘Good fences make good neighbours’.  ‘I don’t want to get involved.’  ‘What if things go badly?  I’m stuck living next to them’.  There seems to be an acceptable level of personal defenses and distance when it comes to the people who live next door.  Even followers of Christ are prone to this.

Since a child I have been told that my neighbour is anybody who I have contact with, my fellow man.  And in this era of technology, that can be anybody.  And since it is anybody, it can be anybody I choose.  Well, except for family.  But did Jesus not call for a higher level of living than this? Would we not be better working for the kingdom of God, making a better world, if we connected with those we live around?

I do not think it is possible to argue that the people who live next door are not your neighbours.  Even Webster’s would agree.  So why not take the first step?  Stop and introduce yourself.  Offer a hand when it looks like they could use one.  Ask them about themselves when the opportunity is there.

After all, it is the second commandment.  What were their names again?

24 – Season 7

I said, back in the fall of 2007, that making Tony Almeida the bad guy on 24 would be ideal for the show; poetic almost.  And it is true, the added drama has put 24 back on top of current shows.  I would not go so far as to say that 24 is what it was, seasons 1 through 3 were amazing.  But it is back to being engaging and entertaining.

I found the first episodes of this year slow and predictable.  There lacked a lot of the chaos and unpredictability of previous seasons (not including season 6).  And there was not much drama.  They were trying with Jack and Renee, but it really wasn’t believable.

With Tony going bad, killing FBI agents and leaving Jack helpless it brought back a sharpness to the plotline that had not been there since episode 4 of season 6 when the nuke went off.

So now they have got the show on track and have the audience engaged.  How this season is remembered and how the show goes on in future years will depend on how effectively they build the hero/villain tension between Tony and Jack.

What do you think?  Are you enjoying the show this year?  Do you think they can finish season 7 strong or will they waste the Tony/Jack potential?

Busy!

I’ve been meaning to add a new post for a while.  But life has gotten in the way.  Work has been crazy, so when I stop working the last thing I want to do is more typing and staring at my computer screen.  And, I’ve been busy speaking at DAL C4C and getting ready to speak this week at Deep Water.  C4C went really well, talking about sharing faith in a relevant way.  They really reacted when I suggested in sharing, they avoid the 2 f-bombs – being fake and being forced.

At Deep Water this week I’m talking about failure in the context of Peter’s denial’s of Christ.  Everything you need to know about failure you can learn from that story.

I’m planning on posting a review of U2′s new CD, No Line on the Horizon.  And my thoughts on 24 – Season 7.  Hopefully I’ll get to those soon.

Oh, and I’m getting ready to go to England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland at the end of the month to visit The Sister, Colleen and Hywel, Jessica and Jon and Lau.

Like I say, I’m busy!